Did Photosymbiont Bleaching Lead to the Demise of Planktic Foraminifer Morozovella at the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum?

ABSTRACT: The symbiont-bearing mixed-layer planktic foraminiferal genera Morozovella and Acarinina were among the most important calcifiers of early Paleogene tropical-subtropical oceans. A marked and permanent switch in the abundance of these genera is known to have occurred at low-latitude sites at the beginning of the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO), such that the relative abundance of Morozovella permanently and significantly decreased along with a progressive reduction in the number of species; concomitantly, the genus Acarinina almost doubled its abundance and diversified. Here we examine planktic foraminiferal assemblages and stable isotope compositions of their tests at Ocean Drilling Program Site 1051 (northwest Atlantic) to detail the timing of this biotic event, to document its detai

SUBMITTER: Luciani V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5784393 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature